Disposable bag with pocket for soluble substance

ABSTRACT

A disposable bag, for example, a liquid container for a syringe has on or between opposed portions of its thin, flexible and collapsible wall a pocket for preloading or storing a soluble substance, so that said substance is dissolved merely by placing a liquid in the bag.

United States Patent Paul A. Zamarra Lake Road, Far Hills, NJ. 07931 804,234

Mar. 4, 1969 Oct. 19, 1971 Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented DISPOSABLE BAG WITH POCKET FOR SOLUBLE SUBSTANCE 1 Claim, 12 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 128/224, 128/227, 128/251, 222/93, 239/376, 137/268 Int. Cl A61m 3/00 Field of Search 128/224,

References Cited Primary Examiner- Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerJ, Yasko Attorney-Harry B. Rook ABSTRACT: A disposable bag, for example, a liquid container for a syringe has on or between opposed portions of its thin, flexible and collapsible wall a pocket for preloading or storing a soluble substance, so that said substance is dissolved merely by placing a liquid in the bag,

PATENTEDUCT 19 197i SHEET 10F 2 ATTORNEY PATENTEIJUBT 19 197i SHEET 2 BF 2 ATTORNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a disposable bag having a flexible and collapsible wall, which can be used, for example, as the liquid container for a syringe, and more specifically the invention relates to a disposable syringe preloaded with a medicament.

2. The Prior Art US. Pat. No. 2,917,047 discloses a disposable syringe wherein the liquid containing bag has a rupturable pouch preloaded with a medicament powder to be dissolved in the liquid after the pouch has been ruptured.

US. Pat No. 2,255,833 contemplates a syringe in which an antiseptic solution can be made by dropping a small pill into the liquid container and then filling the container with a suitable liquid to dissolve the pill.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,112,581 discloses a syringe nozzle having a recess for tablets which are dissolved by the flow of liquid from the syringe bag through the nozzle.

Flexible walled and collapsible bags for syringes are known, for example, as disclosed in 11.8. Pat. Nos. 3,371,665 and 3,057,352.

The bags with collapsible walls do not provide for packing or storing therein a soluble medicament, and the construction of the other prior art-devices leaves much to be desired in that they are either too expensive, or are too difficult to prepare with the soluble substance, or fail to provide for a quick dissolving of the soluble substance.

SUMMARY One object of the invention is to provide a disposable liquid container, particularly a flexible-walled bag for use in a syringe, which will overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, and which will provide a disposable foldable, collapsible-walled bag having or constituting a pocket preloaded with a soluble substance so to allow such substance to be quickly dissolved merely by the placing of a liquid in the bag.

The invention further provides such a bag wherein the pocket is formed in or on the bag wall between two layers of flexible and collapsible material, at least one of which layers is the wall of the bag.

More particularly the invention contemplates forming the pocket by heat-sealing together two opposite sides of a bag wall, or by sealing opposite portions of a bag wall with a pressure sensitive adhesive which allows separation of said portions when a liquid is placed in the bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 5 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view on th plane of the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the plane of the line 66 ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3, with portions broken away,-showing another modification of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a disposable bag embodying a modification of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing another disposable preloaded bag embodying the invention, and

FIG. 12 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the plane ofthe line 12-12 ofFIG. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For the purpose of illustrating the principals of the invention, the invention has been shown in connection with the bag or liquid container of a disposable syringe; and referring first to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the reference character A designates the bag or liquid container which is initially a flat rectangular bag whose wall has two side portions 1 and 2 secured together at three edges 3, 4 and 5 and providing an open mouth at the other edge 6. The wall of the bag preferably is formed of flexible, foldable and collapsible plastic material such as cellophane, Pliofilm" or other suitable sheet materials that are strong, will withstand folding, pleating or creasing without weakening and ordinarily are difficult to rupture or tear except by penetration by a sharp point. This form of the invention contemplates heat-sealable material and preferably the material is thin, being of a thickness of an order of from 0.00125 to 0.005 of an inch.

In accordance with the invention a pocket B is formed in the bag to contain a soluble substance which in the present instance is shown as a tablet 7 composed of a suitable medicament. The pocket is formed between the opposed wall portions 1 and 2, preferably intermediate both the length and the width of the package and of a size and shape suitable to receive the desired medicament. In the present instance the two wall portions are heat-sealed together in zones or "spots" 8 that are spaced apart, preferably equidistantly to form the pocket B, the spaces between the adjacent heat-sealed zones being less than the diameter of the tablet 7 so that to prevent accidental displacement of the tablet from the pocket. Where the medicament is in the form of a powder the heat-sealed zones will be arcuate with the ends of the adjacent arcuate zones spaced apart sufficiently to permit the flow of a liquid through such spaces into and out of the pocket.

With this construction, the bag can be preloaded with the tablet, the tablet being placed in the bag and the bag walls then being heat-sealed together in the zones 8 outwardly of the perimeter of the tablet. When liquid is placed in the bag through the mouth thereof, it may freely flow between the heat-sealed zones into the pocket so as to dissolve the medicament and permit the solution to flow out of the pocket into the bag for such use as desired, for example, for injection by the nozzle C of a syringe to which the bag is connected in any suitable manner and preferably in accordance with the disclosure of my copending application, Ser. No. 773,455.

Instead of heat-sealing the wall portions together, the said wall portions may be sealed together by pressure sensitive adhesive so that when liquid is placed in the bag, the pressure of the liquid outwardly against the wall portions will pull the sealed zones of the wall portions apart to open the pocket and permit liquid to dissolve the medicament. In such a case the material of the bag wall need not be heat-scalable. FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate a bag D whose rectangular sidewall portions 8 and 9 are sealed together in an annular zone 10 by a pressure sensitive adhesive to form a pocket E between the sidewall portions and bounded by the sealed zone 10. In FIG. 4 the sealed zone is indicated by dot and dash lines and in this form of the invention the medicament is shown as comprising a powder 11 although the medicament could be a tablet. When liquid is poured into the bag, the pressure of the inflowing liquid against the bag wall portions 8 and 9 will pull the wall portions apart at the sealed zone 10 so as to open the pocket and permit the liquid to dissolve the medicament.

In some cases it may be desirable to form the pocket by sealing a separate layer of material to the wall portion of the bag in the same manner in which the two wall portions are sealed together in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 7 shows a bag F having sidewall portions 12 and 13 to the inner surface of one of which, in the present instance the portion 12, is sealed a layer 14 of material which may be the same kind of material of which the bag wall is formed. In other words, the material may be either heat-scalable or the material may be nonheat-sealable but have the layer 14 sealed to the wall portion 12 in zones spaced apart as are the zones 8 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The layer 14 provides a pocket G for the medicament tablet H.

Instead of using a pressure sensitive adhesive, another type of adhesive or glue may be used provided the glue or adhesive is compatible with the liquid andmedicament to be used in the bag.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another form of the invention wherein the soluble substance is in the form of a tablet 15 which is adhesively secured between the opposed portions 16 and 17 of the bag I, the bag itself providing a pocket for the storage of the tablet. The tablet may be formed of material such that when its surfaces are moistened, they become sticky or adhesive so as to adhere to the inner surfaces of the bag wall por tions, or the tablet may be prepared with its surfaces lightly coated with an adhesive substance which is inert or compatible with the substance of which the tablet is formed. In FIG. 9 the adhesive surfaces are shown by the heavy lines 18. In use of the preloaded bag, the mere placing of a suitable liquid in the bag causes a dissolving of the tablet in the liquid.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a bag J the inner surface of the wall of which is coated with the soluble substance which is shown as a layer 19. The soluble substance to be dissolved is prepared with components which cause the substance to adhere to the surface of the bag wall when the layer is applied, and the layer may be applied to the whole interior surface of the bag or only to a portion of that surface, depending upon the amount of substance that is desired in the bag. In use of the bag, the mere placing of the liquid in the bag causes the soluble substance to be dissolved.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the shape of the bag and the specific construction thereof may be widely modified and changed and the specific manner of providing the pocket may be modified, all within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A disposable syringe bag preloaded with a substance to form a solution in a liquid that is placed in the bag, said bag comprising one piece of flexible sheet material folded upon itself providing two opposed sidewall portions having a plurality of edges along which said wall portions are sealed together providing a liquid container having a mouth between said pieces at one edge, said opposed wall portions being sealed together in zones in spaced relation to all of said edges and in spaced relation to each other providing a pocket which is spaced from said edges to provide passages for the flow of liquid between said pocket and said edges and in which a soluble substance is stored and further providing passages between said zones for the dissolving and removing of said substance from said pocket by the flow through said passages between said zones into and out of the pocket of liquid poured into said bag through said mouth. 

1. A disposable syringe bag preloaded with a substance to form a solution in a liquid that is placed in the bag, said bag comprising one piece of flexible sheet material folded upon itself providing two opposed sidewall portions having a plurality of edges along which said wall portions are sealed together providing a liquid container having a mouth between said pieces at one edge, said opposed wall portions being sealed together in zones in spaced relation to all of said edges and in spaced relation to each other providing a pocket which is spaced from said edges to provide passages for the flow of liquid between said pocket and said edges and in which a soluble substance is stored and further providing passages between said zones for the dissolving and removing of said substance from said pocket by the flow through said passages between said zones into and out of the pocket of liquid poured into said bag through said mouth. 